10^th July 1998:

Worked on my Lotto Ticket Checking software till lunch time.  Went in to Victoria to buy some tickets for Sweet Charity next weekend.  Got cunning this time and paid by credit card just in case I lost the tickets like I did with the Popcorn tickets!  Don't want to go through that drama again.  I stumbled upon Westminster Cathedral and Westminster Abbey on my walk home.   Both very impressive.  Will go back to photograph them sometime.

Late night tonight.  I set up my computer as a Web Server for an hour and got Janet to connect to my computer from New Zealand to see if it worked.  Like magic!  Now, what can I do with it ......  I'd like to see if someone can connect to my computer and turn some lights on and off or something.  Have to think on that one.

11^th July 1998:

Went to the Hope and Anchor pub on Acre Lane in Clapham, where Brian and Susan are working, to watch the All Blacks deal to Australia live on Sky TV.  We got there at 11.20 AM after an hours travel on the tube so we only missed the first twenty minutes.

What a disappointing performance by New Zealand.  Lets hope they get their act together before the World Cup next year and Carlos Spencer learns to kick.  In the immortal words of Harley on Adam Parore when he went out for one run "Useless %*$@~# Aucklander - he was probably in a rush to get back to his latte and cell phone."

We had a very nice lunch at the pub after the game then back into town to a Juergen Teller photography exhibition at The Photographers Gallery near Leicester Square.  After that, it was home to watch a video we'd taped, Louise washed the dishes for the fourth time since we've been here and I cooked tea.  The excitement never ends!

14^th July 1998:

Went to Staples Corner this morning and bought some locks for the sash windows here.  They came with security screws which are hard to remove once fitted so I bought some ordinary screws as well - there's no way I'm going to let the landlord keep them when we leave.  Also bought a hacksaw and drill bit.  I will buy a battery drill tomorrow.  A cheap one is only twice the price of an egg beater drill.  Crazy!  Boy I miss my tools at home.  None of the windows line up so a bit of ingenuity will be required with the limited tools.  

Went into town after lunch, did the business banking, picked up TNT and bought tickets for 'Buddy' the musical.  A friend of Weez at Lucas Varity gives her discount tickets for shows where we get two prime seats for the price of one which is great.

Bought 'Phenomenon' and 'Apollo 13' on video on the way home.  Videos are cheap here.  I bought these on special for �7.99 each - half the price of going to the movies.  Watched half of Apollo 13 and listened to the Nicam Stereo by plugging the video into the laptop, the headphones into the laptop........ brilliant sound!  The video is great.  If you program the timer to record something and the program starts late, the start time gets adjusted appropriately as does the end time.  No more incomplete programs.

17^th July 1998:

Exciting news.  After three and a half weeks of calling and waiting and calling and waiting.....to find out how I did at the interview with Pitney Bowe I decided it was time to move on.  So, now I have an interview on Monday at 2pm with Alcatel Submarine Networks at their site in Greenwich.  The position is a contract for a Test and Repair Engineer.  So fingers crossed this time.  It is at the end of Christchurch Way in Greenwich or 4G, Page 81 in the 'A to Z' (this is for Mum and Dad because they like to follow what we are doing!)

Not much else to say from the last couple of days really.  Louise is in town at a dance class strutting her funky stuff at a Hip Hop class.  I might call my Aunt Mary tonight and see if she'll put up with us on the Bank Holiday at the beginning of August.

20^th July 1998:

We went to Sweet Charity on Saturday afternoon.  It was quite an enjoyable musical with lots of recognisable songs - now we know where they all those advert songs came from.  This is probably the best show we have seen so far but I am sure there is better coming.  After the show, we came home, got tidied up and went out to tea with Brian, Susan, Peter and Carlie at a steak house in the centre of London.  The closer to the centre, the more expensive the food.  After that we went to the Oxygen Bar (Should have been called the Extremely Smoky Bar) and home at about 12.30am.  London is a really 'happening' place at night time with thousands of people everywhere.  It also feels very safe amongst the crowds.  Trying to find a Black Cab at 12.30am around Charing Cross at this time was a bit of a mission, but after 15 minutes and a bit of keen spotting we secured a ride.

Sunday was spent recovering (getting too old for these late nights!)  Brian and Susan are staying with us until a flat comes up for them in the middle of the week.

Had my interview today with Alcatel.   Interesting...
Perhaps more on that later.

25^th July 1998:

I started work yesterday for Alcatel STC Submarine Systems.  I had to get up at 4.15am to get to work by 6am.  I didn't make it there till 6.25am :-(
The work is 12 hour days so it was 7.15pm by the time I got home.  I can start at 7am which will fit in better with the train and tube timetables so hopefully I will be able to get up at 5.15am and get home at 8 15pm.  That should leave me one hour to cook tea, wash the dishes and sleep for 8 hours!  If I can keep this up for 5 months we will reach our savings target for the year.

Louise has been asked if she would like to make her contract with Lucas Varity 'open ended'.  I think she is going to take the offer and a pay rise will be forthcoming for her.

It's 10.10am Saturday and we are just  heading down town to the Sports Cafe in New Zealand House to watch the All Blacks kick the South Africans butts.

Since we are both so busy now, I will probably only get to update this weekly - so till then......

Well - we're home from the Sports Cafe very disappointed.  We bumped into Jon Olson in Bond Street tube station who we hadn't seen since we got here.  He just happened to be two carriages down from us when we caught the tube from Kilburn.  The first thing he said was "Mate - are you a bit dark after last nights effort" - we then knew we'd lost the rugby!  So we chatted for half an hour then headed to the Cafe to watch our inevitable demise.  All I can say is that Carlos Spencer was on the field for 48 minutes too long.  No Dad - I don't think I'm being a bit harsh!